The Book Of Genesis
Part 2
A further study of this intensely interesting first chapter of the Bible leads us to the work of God during seven days. Since our examination of the wonderful wisdom and power of the Lord is to be devotional rather than critical, practical rather than scientific, we shall not discuss the problem of whether the days are days of actual creation or of reconstruction. Moreover, we shall not, at present, investigate the difficulty as to whether they are literal or figurative. First, let us deepen our acquaintance with God.
The Creator
It is impossible to read Genesis chapter 1 without noticing how frequently God is mentioned (twenty-seven times). By means of a Bible concordance with a Hebrew lexicon we find that the name God used here is a translation of Elohim, the plural form of El. This name, which occurs frequently throughout the Old Testament, emphasizes the might of God, and designates Him as the Supreme One with Whom man must do. Much profit may be derived from some reflection upon the testimony of Scripture to God. May the Holy Spirit confirm our faith as we compare this divine revelation with the vain philosophies of man.
ATHEISM: This evil system of thought denies the existence of God. The Bible does not attempt to logically prove God, but, with a sublime majesty, assumes the recognition of a well established fact, and opens with the magnificent affirmation, “In the beginning God created.” “In the beginning,” the dateless past; “God,” the origin of all things; “created,” the stupendous accomplishment of His will and wisdom. The disbelief of some cannot annul this bold declaration of the Divine Spirit.
MATERIALISM: In many respects we live in a materialistic age, and pay far too much attention to what can be seen and handled. Materialism as a philosophy, however, goes far beyond this; it teaches that matter is eternal The inspired record of Genesis proves that God is eternal, that He existed before matter, and that matter was created by Him.
Both of these systems of thought are strongly advocated by Communism. In its teaching it would seek to annihilate God and deify material.
POLYTHEISM: So quickly did man depart from the knowledge of the One and Only True God that nations came to believe in and to worship many gods. Ancient history is full of evidence as to the practice of polytheism. Missionaries from dark places of the earth tell us of the belief of the heathen in many dieties, but the Bible teaches only one God.
It might be well to call attention again to the fact that the name Elohim is plural, and that there is an early intimation in the Bible of the Holy Trinity. “And God said, Let Us make man in Our image” (Gen. 1:26). There is one God composed of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Him there is a plurality of persons, but a unity of essence.
PANTHEISM: Some of the ancient and the modern cults accept the erroneous teaching that God is identical with the universe. They deny both the personality and transcendence of God. In His Holy Word the Lord teaches so plainly that His existence is separate from that of the universe. The universe is His creation, and in it He is vitally interested, but He is distinguished apart from it.
There are one or two more errors relative to God, the Eternal Spirit, which we ought to consider before we further develop our studies.
DEISM: How far human reason wanders from God! Deism pictures the universe as a precise mechanism created by God, but left by Him to a process of self-development. What a prevarication! God is ever near to His universe. He is never far from any one of us (Acts 17:27), for in the person of His Son, He lived here on earth, and manifested the keenest interest in mankind. That God had withdrawn from His universe is forcefully denied by the very first chapter in our Bible.
AGNOSTICISM: Man may polish his ignorance and express it in the terms of a vain philosophy by stating that he does not know whether or not there is a God. The existence of God is proved by His accomplishments in creation and in redemption, for as Andrew Fuller has said, “God is the first cause and the last end of everything.”
A firm belief, a conscious nearness, and a redemptive relationship to God form the character of every true Christian. The testimony to God of Genesis chapter 1 will save the believer from the grip of error, the grief of fatalism, and the gloom of ignorance.
This God is our God forever and ever, He will be our guide even over death. Let us with reverence and worship examine in the months to come the wonderful works of God.